Earth Day Intervention

By Charles S. Clark

April 22, 2013

The Environmental Protection Agency on Earth Day has interrupted its normal website home page programming with a special set of interactive presentations to mark the occasion. A simple but stirring photo of the planet is accompanied by text declaring simply, “Today is Earth Day.” Alongside are links to a slide show, events for volunteers and an invitation to send in your own photos.

At a less-likely agency across town, the Treasury Department touted its own environmental initiatives that include a push to paperless payments and a reduced footprint for office space.“While people may associate Treasury with another kind of green, we’re proud of the progress we’ve been able to make on protecting the environment,” Nani Coloretti, assistant Treasury secretary for management, said in an email to Government Executive. “From sourcing our power from renewable resources and conserving water in the production of currency, to Treasury headquarters’ distinction as the oldest LEED Gold-certified building in America, we try to treat every day as Earth Day.”